Wyoming
Analysis: BLM’s final Rock Springs plan reflects public, task force feedback
By Katie Klingsporn
Conservation groups’ analysis finds that the Bureau of Land Management’s finalized Rock Springs Resource Management Plan — which has been criticized as out of step with the state’s needs and priorities — incorporates 85% of the recommendations made by Wyoming’s governor-appointed task force.
The analysis “shows that the agency respects the collaborative process that Gov. [Mark] Gordon led and the consensus-based outcomes that the task force produced,” Wyoming Outdoor Council Program Director Alec Underwood said. “It’s apparent that the agency took seriously [the task force’s] substantive recommendations for management direction,” added Underwood, who was a task force member.
The finding, which the Wyoming Outdoor Council and the Wilderness Society released this week, contrasts criticism that the finalized plan is far from what the people of Wyoming want. It also comes after a state lawmaker called the task force process “flawed.”
It’s the latest development in years of heated debate over how to manage some 3.6 million acres of public lands in southwestern Wyoming.
The enormous acreage in question, which the BLM Rock Springs Field Office oversees, encompasses everything from sand dunes to sagebrush ecosystems, badlands and wrinkled mountains. It’s home to the Northern Red Desert’s petroglyphs, pathways like the Continental Divide Trail and major wildlife corridors. People utilize it for economic activities like trona mining and livestock grazing and for recreation like OHV riding and camping.
A recap
The BLM in August released its finalized environmental impact statement outlining its proposed Resource Management Plan for the Rock Springs Field Office. The plan has not been updated since 1997.
This came a year after the agency released the draft plan, drawing intense backlash. The conservation-heavy “preferred alternative” released in 2023 sparked outrage over stricter limits on energy extraction and expansions of protected areas. Critics lambasted the plan as an instrument that would kill the area’s economy and close much-loved areas for outdoor recreation. Anger and misinformation — including erroneous information accidentally disseminated by the BLM itself — characterized the packed meetings that ensued. Some 35,000 comments poured in during the extended public comment period.
Amid that extended comment period, Gordon announced the formation of a gubernatorial task force, tapping the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute to facilitate stakeholder conversations. The intent was to hammer out recommendations supported by all the interests represented — everything from trona mining to oil and gas, conservation and hunting.
Despite representing disparate interests, the 11 members reached consensus on more than 100 recommendations for the BLM.
The agency carefully considered those recommendations as it drafted its finalized plan, BLM Wyoming Associate State Director Kris Kirby told a legislative committee in September. During that meeting, Sen. John Kolb (R-Rock Springs), who sat on the task force, said that while some good recommendations came out of the group, the process gave outsized weight to certain viewpoints.
“I think it was a flawed system that worked on 100% buy-in,” Kolb said.
Because of one dissenting member, Kolb said, the task force process was “shanghaied by the environmental groups,” resulting in recommendations that didn’t truly represent the majority.
When the task force released its recommendations, Gordon touted them as a vehicle for how Wyoming knowledge can inform a better Rock Springs land management plan.
“It was critical we amplified the public’s involvement in this important BLM planning document, and shared with BLM how Wyoming, through collaboration, creates durable and quality land management policy,” he said.
Gordon also expressed displeasure with the finalized plan, which “does not meet Wyoming’s expectations of durable, multiple use of public lands,” he said following its release. “A cursory review makes it clear where the BLM considered local and cooperative input, and where the agency chose to force through national agendas.”
Not so fast
Wyoming Outdoor Council and The Wilderness Society manually compared each task force recommendation with the correlated management action in the Proposed RMP to produce their favorable review.
In a parallel effort, the public lands advocacy group Center for Western Priorities analyzed how well the BLM incorporated all public comments — not just Wyoming’s — into its final plan. The organization made a public records request for all 35,000+ comments, according to a press release, which allowed it to analyze the proportion in favor of or opposed to conservation of wild lands, wildlife habitats and important cultural areas. Using a random sample of 5,000 comments, the CWP found that 92% were in support of conservation measures.
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The Sand Dunes Wilderness Study Area encompasses 27,000 acres of BLM lands in the Red Desert. There, people can hike, bird watch and hunt. (Bob Wick/BLM/FlickrCC)“It’s a really robust data set, and a very robust sample size to give you an idea of just how much support there was,” Aaron Weiss, deputy director of Center for Western Priorities, said. “And I think it gets to the point that as controversial as some folks in Wyoming wanted to paint this plan — that it was incredibly divisive — when you look at the actual numbers, it was not at all divisive.”
Weiss said the sheer number of comments illustrates sky-high interest among Western residents and called the proportion in support “stunning.”
“I can’t think of any major public policy issue that comes across the finish line with 92% public support,” he said. “That is really a stunning number, and I think a testament to how much listening BLM did, both at the agency level and especially at the field office level, to work in public feedback and comments into this proposed management plan.”
A 30-day protest period on the finalized plan ended in September, though a governor’s consistency review is still ongoing. These are among the final steps before the RMP becomes final.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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